RIDGELAND, S.c. (WSAV) – Much like the game itself, the path to a college baseball scholarship is competitive.

“There’s a lot of kids out there trying to do the same thing,” Steele Burd, a rising sophomore at Hilton Head Prep said. “You have to set yourself a part from everyone else and do it a different way.”

Insert SEB Baseball, a travel baseball team/academy hybrid heading into its second year of existence. Some of the best high school players around spend hours upon hours of their free time honing their craft at SEB’s home base — a multi-use facility in Ridgeland, S.C.

“We aren’t chasing trophies, three dollar rings, or t-shirts,” Shane Monahan, president of SEB baseball explained. “I want to give these guys the knowledge I was able to learn on the way up and hopefully get them talent-wise developed enough to get in front of the bigger schools and some smaller schools as well to be seen.”

Monahan built a similar program north of Atlanta that helped send over 300 kids to the pros or college on scholarship. The Clemson baseball legend and former Seattle Mariners player has cultivated relationships in the world of baseball over the years and is hoping that will help his newest group of young baseball players.

“What I’m finding is a lot of guys I played with in pro ball are college coaches,” Monahan explains. “You can pick up the phone and say ‘hey I’ve got so and so ready to go; you want to give them a look?'”

It seems like the players’ hard work at this facility and Monahan’s connections have already started to pay dividends. Several of the members are already getting looked at by major college baseball programs.

“Just having a former pro and college players who played at a high level is cool to be around and cool to learn from,” Burd explained. “He’s made it and he knows the hard work you have to put in.”

Monahan will be the first to tell you this program wasn’t always part of the master plan. “The vision I had was I was going to spend 15 years in the big leagues, retire a multi-millionaire, and play golf the rest of my days.”

The paycheck may be a little smaller and he doesn’t have as much free time to hit the links, but Monahan may have found a second calling that is just as rewarding.

“At least if I can open a door and get them seen [by colleges], that’s what this is all about.”